A surge of Justice Department resources into cryptocurrency investigations more than a year ago helped prosecutors quickly charge FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and augurs a spate of aggressive enforcement ahead, reports the Wall Street Journal. “You should expect more,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “[The DOJ] investments are paying off in the prosecutorial firepower you are seeing.” Awaiting federal charges alleging wire fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance violations, Bankman-Fried received approval from a New York judge to be released on a $250 million bond, reports Politico. Federal prosecutors and civil regulators filed say that Bankman-Fried and his accomplices perpetrated a multiyear fraud that stole billions of dollars from investors and FTX customers. The 30-year-old former crypto executive is being released to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, Ca. He will be subject to location monitoring and must surrender his passport.
Two key members of the former billionaire’s inner circle, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are cooperating with prosecutors as part of an investigation into FTX’s collapse. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have also filed charges against Bankman-Fried, Ellison, and Wang on allegations that they participated in a scheme to pump up the price of FTT — a digital token native to the FTX exchange — which the agency has identified as an investment security.
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